Advantages

Disadvantages

A good value airort hotel that is actually next to the airport

~~~~~~~~~~ Come fly with me ~~~~~~~~~~

Just before Christmas I spent a few days in Geneva flying from Newcastle Airport. As we had an early flight on the way there and a relatively late flight on the way back and we were travelling to Newcastle by train we decided it would make more sense for us to spend the evening before we flew to Geneva and the evening we returned in Newcastle at airport hotels. On the outgoing journey we stayed at the Premier Inn Newcastle Airport.

~~~~~~~~~~ Location ~~~~~~~~~~

I have to say that the location of the Premier Inn Newcastle Airport is absolutely spot on. I have stayed in a lot of airport hotels over the years and some of them (including the one we stayed in on our return journey) are so far away from the actual airport as to be laughable. The Premier Inn Newcastle Airport is actually at the airport and is literally a two minute walk from the terminal building.We got the metro from Newcastle Central Station and we had had a long day of travelling so I really appreciated the fact that there was no faff with buses or taxis to reach the hotel and it was just a short hop to the hotel from getting off the metro at the airport to being at the hotel.

~~~~~~~~~~ Check in ~~~~~~~~~~

We had already pre booked our rooms and paid for them before arriving at the hotel so check in was fairly straightforward. It was just a case of telling her our names and getting the keys from her. As everything was already paid we had no forms to fill in and went from reception to our rooms in 5 minutes flat.

~~~~~~~~~~ The rooms ~~~~~~~~~~

The hotel has recently been refurbished and you can tell as it is all still very clean and fresh. It was decorated in the usual purple and cream colour scheme and was actually really comfortable and spacious. My room had a double bed (with extra pillows) and a chaise lounge for sitting on as well as a desk and chair. There was an open wardrobe which I'm not overly keen on but there was enough hanging space and shelves if I had been one of these people who actually unpack and a large widescreen TV.

The en-suite bathroom had a bath as well as a shower and included some toiletries. There were plenty of towels and like the room it was spotlessly clean.

~~~~~~~~~~ Food ~~~~~~~~~~

When we arrived we were hungry so decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. We asked the receptionist if we just went through and she told us since the restaurant stopped serving about an hour after we arrived she would book us a table so that we could be sure of getting some food.

The restaurant is located next to the main reception area and I was pleasantly surprised as it was spacious and nicely decorated and looked more like a nice pub than a budget hotel restaurant. The décor was nice and minimal and the table and chairs were all modern and comfortable. It had a really nice ambiance and was lovely and toasty and it was absolutely packed.We were seated straight away and given some time to peruse our menus. The food on offer is all pub grub but fairly decent pub grub. I just ordered garlic mushrooms as a starter and had fish and chips with mushy peas as my main. As mine was part of an offer it only came to £12.50 for my food which I think is really good value for an airport hotel where everything is normally really expensive.

The food was really nice and well-cooked and there was honestly nothing I could really complain about. It wasn't gourmet but for pub food in a Premier Inn it was really nice and well cooked.We had pre booked breakfast as part of our room rate and this was for the all you can eat breakfast. It entails a buffet of cereals, fruit, pastries etc. and then a cooked breakfast to your preference. I just ordered the full English with extras of what I wanted. It arrived quite speedily and was ok but I had ordered poached eggs instead of fried and these were undercooked to the point that I wasn't able to eat them. This is the only complaint that I had and being a typical Brit I didn't send them back like I should have so it was my own fault for not asking for them to be recooked. After breakfast we were all stuffed but we were talking to the waitress and she was telling us that loads of guests order three or four breakfasts as it is an all you can eat deal. I have to say that what we had was really good value for the money so having more than one would have been amazing value. The all you can eat breakfast was £8.25.

~~~~~~~~~~ The staff ~~~~~~~~~~

I have to single out the staff at the hotel as they were really good and it was such a contrast with the hotel we stayed at in Geneva where the staff were distant and frankly a little rude. Everyone from the receptionist to the waiting staff at the hotel were friendly and professional and always had a smile on their faces. It makes such a huge difference when staying somewhere when the staff are nice and I really think they added to the enjoyment of my stay at the hotel. PriceI booked online through the Premier Inn website and ended up paying £48 for my room plus another £8.25 for the breakfast which I thought was extremely reasonable especially considering its location and the comfort of the rooms.

~~~~~~~~~~ Conclusion ~~~~~~~~~~

I can highly recommend the Premier Inn Newcastle Hotel if you are looking for somewhere that is centrally located close to the airport that offers really good value for money and has a really good level of service from its staff as well as having a decent restaurant in which to get something to eat. I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel and it made the stress of travelling much more bearable being so close to the terminals in the morning when we checked out.